9 August 2007

Travel Day 9 — Nanjing Museum and City Tour

Posted by BaBa under: Travel .

Today we are going on a half day city tour to the Nanjing Museum. We boarded the bus by 9:00am and were on the way. We took the stroller with us and Sheridan was glad to get out of the hotel for a ride. We arrived at the museum and it is really hot here in Nanjing. We were glad to be going to an Air Conditioned Museum. We had a guide in the museum and she tried really hard to tell us about different exhibits. Her English was much better than our Chinese, but it was hard to understand much of what was said. There were plenty of distractions as well as the kids were loud at times and anxious at other times. We were led to the gift shop at the end of the visit and there is where the problems really started.

MaMa had taken the Cheerios away from Sheridan as he had enough to eat. The report at the Orphanage says that he does not know how to self regulate his food. It specifically says that he would eat until he makes himself sick. So it is up to us to keep this from happening. Well taking the food away brought on a major meltdown. He cried and cried louder. He definitely made a scene in the gift shop and of course attracted a large crowd of workers around him. He took a little water in a cup from one lady, but this only temporarily stopped the water works. He was not the only upset child today, but he was one of the loudest. We quickly left the store and our visit was over.

What did we see at the museum? Jade and ceramics, fine Chinese porcelain, Jade artifacts and brocade weaving were the main items that we saw. We actually saw a large loom where two women were making the brocade. This was quite interesting and I have included a few photos below.

After we returned with a sleeping boy draped across me on the coach ride home, we tried to get him to sleep. He entertained MaMa while he was in the crib by singing (at least it sounded like this) and moving around. MaMa really was not entertained and nodded off to sleep despite his best efforts at keeping her awake with himself. I went on a photo mission with Belinda in the afternoon. We were going with Min and she would have the cab drop us at the department store and market while she went to the registry office.

Belinda’s camera had stopped working and was also really old. She had decided to get a new one. So I went with her to find one at the market so that she could charge the purchase. We looked at an Olympus and a Sony and finally settled on the Sony. It has 7.2 mega pixels and 6X optical zoom. The price is about what you pay at home (other price references are censored especially since it was not my purchase). Electronics like cameras are not a bargain in China. We finished with the purchase and a couple of other small items and then went out into the Garage to find a cab. The garage was a torrent of heat, diesel fumes and waste odors. The smell and heat were enough to make you sick. Here we are walking through this garage looking for the exit or a cab. We finally find three sets of stairs to the street. Up on the street, I hail a cab and we are whisked back to hotel.

We sat and visited with Belinda and let Mary Audrey play with Sheridan. It was really fun to watch the two interact together. They have grown up together and are definitely used to playing with each other. Both of them have gotten out of their shells. We seem to also have a lot in common and it is great to share the journey with her.

The last thing this evening we went out for a stroll. Sheridan enjoyed the stroll so much he fell asleep. We walked back to the shopping area and then over the bridge. I took a few photos of the water and the dragon sign along with some rickshaws that were there in the shopping area.
hanging out. I worked on tidying up the photos on the web blog by putting them in tables so that they did not scroll forever down the page and leave extra whitespace unused on the page.

Before we knew it was time to go to the orphanage. This is one of those decisions that is hard for a parent to make. How will the child react to going to the orphanage? Will he or she meltdown? Will it be painful for them to see their playroom, bed or nannies? We had decided that we were going with him no matter what. This was easier as he had bonded well with us since the first hard hour of crying. It was also easier since he is only a little more than two. I felt and so did MaMa that this would be something that we needed to document for him when questions would come later in his life. We also thought that it would be something that we would always wish we had done if we did not go to visit.

So with all of these thoughts in our minds, we boarded the little van we had hired and off we went. We have seen pictures for other families who had visited the orphanage so had some idea of what to expect. We arrived and were led to the director’s office. We had a nice visit there and then were given an ornament that was personalized with our child’s name and a brocade art piece as keepsakes. Soon we were off to visit the kids. We had a list of 8 names to take photos of and I had given this list to Coco on Monday. However, she was not there but at the Civil Affairs Office with another family who had just received their child the day before. Kim and I did bring the list with us and so we were able to shoot photos of the 6 children on the list that were there. Coco had said that the other two were in foster care, but she would try to get their photos.

The orphanage was really spotless and modern. There were many volunteers from Half the Sky and we soon were in with the children in the rainbow room. Min made it a point of keeping Sheridan’s nanny at a distance to avoid a repeat of Monday’s parting. Even so, his nanny was distressed and very tearful. She had to leave on two occasions. We did get a picture of him with his other nanny, but he soon wanted MaMa. This is really a good sign. MaMa also got her first kiss from him at the orphanage.

I shot pictures of every child that I saw. I even ran the juice out of the camera with so many flash shots. I then switched to MaMa’s compact camera for the rest of the trip. I shot over 145 pictures during the trip and hope to get these posted soon as many parents will want to have these shots.

Sheridan did get upset on two occasions. Shortly after we got there, he was ready to leave. This became obvious as he grabbed MaMa’s hand and led her out of the room and to the elevator. Smart little guy. He did come back and seemed to be OK. He got some playtime in while there engaging in a game of moving the table around. We got a picture of him and MaMa with the rocking horse that was in the second set of photos we got of him. It was very hot on our excursion today and slightly stressful for him. Mary Audrey had a similar reaction as did Sheridan. Grant had much more stressful visit and it visibly upset him and his parents.

Next we went up to the younger kids room and when Sheridan got there we could here many of the girls calling his name Youbai, Youbai. He is really going to be a favorite with the gals. We got the last of the photos and then went back to the director’s office to gather our things and say goodbyes.

Back in the van and off to see the finding spots of each of the children. Grant was found at the Buddhist temple. This was really pretty ride to the place and the surroundings in a park were gorgeous. Mary Audrey was found at a construction site at a busy intersection. Her spot was the exact opposite of Grant’s in terms of décor. It was quite plain and well it is a construction site. Sheridan was found near the railway station in front of the lake. His also was a nice spot. We each got a chance to take photos of the finding spots.

We were soon on the way back to the hotel. We went out for Hagen Daas and Sheridan did not like the Ice Cream, but took some time showing us he knew how to use a spoon as he attempted to feed MaMa. We walked down to the market street just to see the sights. We came back to the hotel and crashed. The Photos are a little below the text. There is some extra space I cannot seem to get rid of. Just look below for the pictures.

Here are Today’s Nanjing Photos

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